Attachment for calenders



June 21,1927. 1,633,249

N. R. GOODWIN ATTACHMENT FOR CALENDERS Filed Feb. v'. 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTO'R Mm M l ATTORNEYS June 21, 1927.

N. R. GOODWIN ATTACHMENT FOR CALENDERS Filed Feb. '7 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet2 ATTORNEYS Patented June 21, 1927.

NATHAN B. GOODWIN, 0F TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

ATTACHMENT FOR GALENDEBS.

Application filed. I'ebrnary 7',' 182 8. Serial No. 617,527.

This invention relates to an attachment for calenders which sheet therubber compound in a tire manufacturing plant, and

has for an object to provide an apparatus which will receive thecalendered rubber in strips of varying widths and automatically laminatethe same into a composite strip adapted to be severed into suitablelengths and employed as treads for tires.

Another object consists in providing means for suitably adjusting theapparatus in cooperative relationship with a calender.

Another object consists in providin means for guiding the strips ofcalendere rubber into exactly proper relationship for superposition, oneupon the other. 1

A further object consists in providing certain improvements in the form,construction and arrangement of the several parts, whereby the abovenamed and other objects may be effectively attained. I

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a front view of theapparatus.

Fig. 2 represents a side view thereof, on an enlarged scale, andshowing, diagrammatically, the relationship of the device with respectto the calender.

Fig. 3 represents a detail plan view, on a still larger scale, of partof the guiding mechanism.

Fig 4 represents a side view of the same, partly in section.

Fig. 5 represents a section taken in the plane of the line V- V of Fig.3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

I Fig. 6 represents a section taken in the plane of the line VI-VI ofFig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 represents a greatly enlarged diagrammatic view of the laminatedtread which is the product of the apparatus.

The calender may be of any well known and approved form, and isrepresented somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. 2, Where its framework ismarked 1 and its rolls 2, 3 and 4.

The rubber compound being fed to the calender is indicated by 5 and theusual knives 6 for slitting the calendered sheet into strips of suitablewidth are shown as pivoted at 7 on a suitable support 8.

On each side of the framework 1, there is a vertically disposedchannel-iron member '9 which has its side walls provided with a 13 whichextend from side to side of the framework 1 with their ends entering thechannel-iron members 9 and resting upon the pins 11 in whatever positionthe latter may be set. The rod 12 has a block 14 at each end thereof inorder to provide suitable bearings therefor.

Normally, the rod 12 is mounted about opposite the central roll 3 of thecalender, and it carries a swinging frame that consists of side members15, 16, rolls 17, 18 and a tie rod 19. The side members 15, 16 aresecured to head pieces 20 that embrace the rod 12 and may be fixed inpredetermined position by set screws 21. Thehead pieces 20 also carry across bar 22.

On the rod 12 is mounted a series of yokes 23, ten being employed in thepresent instance, and each of these yokes carries a roll 24 and a guiderod 25, the roll 24 being mounted on a stub shaft 26. Each'roll ishollow, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, and provided at each end with a ballbearing 27 the said bearings being mounted upon a reduced portion of theshaft 26 which enables the bearings to be confined between a shoulder 28and a collar 29, the former resulting from the reduction in size of theshaft 26, and the latter being fixed in place on the end of the shaft26by a pin 30.

The yokes 23 are suitably adjusted and fixed against movementlongitudinally with respect to the rod 12 by collars 31 and set screws32.

Each guide rod 25 carries a pair of guide pieces 33 that embrace the rodand are secured in the desired position thereon by set screws 34, whichare threaded into the pieces 33 and have their inner ends adapted tobearagainst the rod 25.

A bifurcated bracket 35 is mounted in a support 36 which embraces therod 12 at a point outside of but adjacent tothe side member 16, the saidsupport being fixed against turning movement on the rod 12 by a bolt 37,so as to hold the bracket in upright position.

A. roll 38 is mounted on a shaft 39 which is carried in the ends of thebracket 35, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the said roll being preferablyhollow and provided with ball bearings as shown and described inconnection with the roll 24.

Another roll 40 is carried, through the medium of similar ball bearings,on a stub shaft 41 that is mounted for swinging adjustment about a pivot42 in a support 43 adjustably fixed on the side member 16 by a set screw44.

It is desirable, at all times, to keep the rolls 24 and 38 parallel witheach other and, for this purpose, the inner ends of the shafts 26 whichcarry the rolls 24 are threaded, as clearly shown at 45 in Fig. 5, intothe yokes 23 with their ends adapted to project rearwardly of the.latter and abut the cross bar 22. Y The pins 30 serve as a manual gripfor turning the shafts 26 and it will be seen that, by this means, theyokes 23 can be slightly turned on the rod 12 so as to provide thenecessary adjustment.

As previously indicated, the rod 12 serves as a pivot for the frame 15,16, 17, 18, 19 and the latter, of course, will tend, under the force ofgravity, to fall into parallelism with respect to the channel-ironmembers 9. This tendency is resisted by the rod 13 against which theside members 15, 16 of the frame normally rest. By raising or loweringthe position of the rod 13 in the channel-iron members 9, the said framemay be caused to rest in a greater or less angular position with respect.to the said channeliron members, and thereby to bring its roll 17nearer to or further away from the lower roll 2 of the calender.

I prefer to have the rolls 17 and 18 both hollowed and mounted on ballbearings, as in the case of rolls 24.

In operation, the compound rubber material 5 is fed in between the rolls3 and 4 of the calender in the customary manner. The action of theserolls, which are driven, serves to sheet the material, and it is slitinto strips by the knives 6 as it passes around the rear of the roll 3.The strips are then led between the rolls 3 and 2. and given anadditional compression. From the roll 2, the strips ass around the roll17 and thence upward y to the rolls 24 that lie at right angles to theroll 17. It will be ob served that the strips are all of differentwidths, except the last two-at the right in Fig. 1, and that the stripslie edge to edge and in the same plane as they pass around the roll 17When, however, the strips engage the rolls 24, they all have their flatsides toward each other and lie in diiferent planes so that, as theypass up onto the roll 38, they are laid one upon the other,'the widestrips being underneath and the superposed strips graduating in width tothe top, as clearly shown in Fig. 7. The guide pieces 33 are so adjustedon the rods 25 as to have all except the two narrowest strips 'laid uponeach. other with their centers coinciding. The two narrowest strips areguided onto the next widest strips so as to lie edge to edge, with aninterval between, as is also clearly indicated in Fig. 7. This laminatedform, with the strips becoming narrower from the bottom toward the top,provides a tread which is adapted to assume substantially a crescentshape in cross section after it has been applied to the tire and actedupon by the mold, while the placing of the two narrow strips on top is aparticular arrangement to especially adapt the tread for receiving asuitable non-skid design.

As the strips pass over the roll 38, they are compacted together, andthis action is repeated when the combined strips travel around the roll40 which lies at right angles to the roll 38. From the roll 40,thecombined strips are carried along under the roll 2 of the calenderand onto a suitable conveyer belt 46 that travels around a pulley 47 andother suitable pulleys, not shown. Thisconveyer belt leads the combinedstrip to a suitable delivery table, or the like, where it may be severedinto the desired lengths. For certain operations and in con nection withcertain calenders, it is desirable to have the roll 17 nearer to orfurther away from the calender, and this may be accomplished byadjusting the rod 13, as hereinabove described. It may also be deemedadvantageous, in some instances, to employ a roll located at a lowerpoint than the roll 17, for receiving the strips from the calender and,to this end, the roll 18 is provided, which is similar in all respectsto roll 17. The adjustment of the roll 40 on the side member 16 alsoenables it to be brought into such a position that the completed stripwill pass in suitable engagement with the roll 2 of the calender whileon its way to the conveyer belt 46.

As a result of this invention, instead of receiving strips from thecalender, which have to be manually laid one upon the other in order toform the tread material, the complete tread strip itself isautomatically produced and delivered, so that the only manualoperationemployed is to cut the same to proper lengths.-

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to in theform, construction and arran ement of the several parts withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention; and hence, I do notintend to be limited to the details herein shown and described,.exceptas the same may be included in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for calenders' comprising, a freely rotatable roll forreceiving tread strips from a calender, another freely rotatable rollfor superposing such stri 3 upon each other and compacting them wit outotherwise applied pressure, said rolls being actuated by the movement ofthe strips in contact therewith, and means for delivering saidsuperposed strips to a desired point, said delivering means serving topull upon thiil strips for causing them to actuate the r0 s.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising, means forreceiving tread strips from a calender and superposmg the same upon eachother, said means including a frame, a roll in the frame fitted toreceive thestrips coming from the calender in edge to edge arrangement,a set of rolls fitted to receive the strips and turn them into positionwith their centers substantially in line, a roll fitted to receive thestrips 1n superposed condition, and means for adjusting said set ofrolls so as to keep them 1n parallelism with said last named roll.

3. An apparatus of the character described comprising, means forreceiving tread strips from a calender and superposmg the same upon eachother, said means comprising a rod, a swinging framework mounted on therod, a roll carried in the framework fitted to receive the strips comingfrom the calender in edge to edge arrangement, a set of rolls mounted onsaid rod fitted to receive the strips and turn them into position withtheir centers substantially in line, and a roll mounted on said rodfitted to receive the strips in superposed condition.

4. An apparatus of the character described 'rod, a swinging frameworkmounted on the rod, a roll carried in the framework fitted to receivethe stri s coming from the calender in edge to e ge arrangement, a setof rolls mounted on said rod fitted to receive the strips and turn theminto position with their centers substantially in line, a roll mountedon said rod fitted to receive the strips in super osed condition, and aroll mounted on sai frame fitted to receive and compact the combinedstrips.

5. An apparatus of the character described comprising, means forreceiving tread strips from a calender and superposmg the same upon eachother, said means comprising a rod, a swinging framework mountedon therod, a roll earned in the framework fitted to receive the strips comingfrom the calender in edge to ed e arrangement, a set of rolls mounted onsand rod fitted to receive-the strips and turn them into position withtheir centers substantially in line, a roll mounted on said rod fittedto receive the strips in superposed condition, a roll mounted on saidframe fitted to receive and compact the combined strips, and means forconveying the combined strips away from the last named roll. Intestimony, that I claim the foregoing as my sole invention, I havesigned my name this fifth day of February, 1923.

NATHAN R. GOODWIN.

